Terror, tragedy for tight-knit Sikh community after mass shooting

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Why did gunman open fire on Sikh temple?

Story highlights

A man who interviewed witnesses for police describes what they saw in Wisconsin

He says witnesses say the shooter was a bald, white man with a 9/11 tattoo

The gunman opened fire in the parking lot then in the temple's holy room, he says

Those inside sought cover in the pantry, with one woman even hiding in a closet

Women and children were busy inside the Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee, preparing for their traditional Sunday feast. Religious leaders gathered in the building's holy room, ahead of the hundreds set to arrive soon for the next service's 11:30 a.m. start.

This peace was shattered, when what authorities believe was a lone gunman opened fire inside and outside the temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. By the time a police officer -- after his colleague had been "ambushed" and shot multiple times -- returned fire, the gunman and six others were dead, Oak Creek police Chief John Edwards said.

Police on Monday identified the gunman as Wade Michael Page, 40, an Army veteran.

Witnesses described the shooter as a bald white man, standing about 6 feet tall, wearing black pants and a white T-shirt -- with a tattoo marking the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States visible on one of his arms -- said Kanwardeep Singh Kaleka, a temple member who worked with police as an interpreter, talking to witnesses after the attack.

Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin 29 photos

Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Human Rights Organization hold placards and candles during a vigil in Amritsar, India, on Tuesday, August 7, as they pay tribute to Sikh devotees killed in the U.S. The tragedy of the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting has reverberated worldwide.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Sikhs gather at Washington's Lafayette Park, across from the White House, for a Night of Remembrance of the Wisconsin Gurdwara Shootings on Wednesday, August 8. The man on the left is holding a poster of Oak Creek Police Officer Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot multiple times as he pursued the gunman.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Photos of the victims are displayed during a candlelight vigil Wednesday in New York's Union Square. Six people were killed in the shooting Sunday, August 5, near Milwaukee.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – A woman from the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin mourns during a candlelight vigil Tuesday, August 7, at the Oak Creek Community Center in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Mourners and supporters of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin attend the vigil at the Oak Creek Community Center on Tuesday night.

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Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Mourners continue to hold vigils such as the one Tuesday at the Oak Creek Community Center after the carnage left the local Sikh community reeling.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Peggy Renner-Howell bows her head after laying flowers Tuesday at a makeshift memorial near the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – A man visits the makeshift memorial near the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin on Tuesday.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Members of Wisconsin's Sikh community conduct a candlelight vigil on Monday, August 6, for the six people killed in suburban Milwaukee.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, along with members of the Sikh community, attends Monday's vigil at the Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin for the victims of the shooting at the Sikh temple.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin on Monday, August 6. The mourners pray for their neighbors killed in the attack on a Sikh temple.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Members of the Miwaukee-area Sikh community gather to learn information about the shooting spree of Wade Michael Page, 40, on Monday, August 6 in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – A member of the Miwaukee-area Sikh community weeps as he listens to information about the shooting spree.

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – People console each other on Monday at the command center near the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – SWAT officers surround a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where a gunman whom authorities identified as Wade Michael Page, 40, stormed the building and opened fire on August 5. The incident left six people and the gunman dead.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – SWAT officers gather in front of the temple Sunday. The attack occurred about 10:30 a.m., when temple members were reading scriptures and cooking food.

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Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – People wait for information in front of the temple as law enforcement officers secure the area.

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Shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin29 photos

Shooting at Sikh temple in Wisconsin – Police work outside the entrance to the temple, near Milwaukee.

Temple member describes shooting

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The gunman entered the parking lot Sunday morning and soon opened fire, killing at least one person, Kaleka said.

The first person to see a shooter was a 10-year-old child, Amardeep Kaleka -- whose father Satwant Singh Kaleka is president of the temple -- told CNN affiliate WISN. (Kanwardeep Singh Kaleka and Amardeep Kaleka are related, with the latter noting that he has a large number of extended family in the temple.)

Soon thereafter, the shooter made his way into the temple building.

He headed toward its holy room and shot "mainly turbaned individuals" there, according to Kanwardeep Singh Kaleka. He said that the casualties he knew of were "the equivalent of priests," including Kaleka's uncle, who is one of the temple administrators.

Women in the kitchen who were preparing the upcoming meal heard the gunshots. The shooter burst in, but those inside the kitchen "were fortunate enough to basically duck down and dodge" the bullets, Kaleka said.

People did whatever they could to survive. Some managed to run to safety outside. Others sought refuge in the temple's basement, while others huddled together tightly in the pantry.

The temple's top priest spent about one in a half hours in a bathroom stall, after being told about the shooter by its president Satwant Singh Kaleka, he later told Justice Singh Khalsa.

"Everybody pretty much said they saw a couple of people laying on the floor, and a lot of people just heard gunshots," said Khalsa, a temple member since the 1990s who helped translate witness accounts for authorities in Oak Creek.

Amardeep Kaleka said his mother hid in a closet, shutting off her phone whenever anyone walked by.

His father, meanwhile, got shot "multiple times" trying to tackle the gunman, the son. Amardeep Kaleka first learned of the fate of his father, who was being treated at an area hospital, in a phone call saying he was "on the ground ... and he's bleeding bad."

By 10:30 a.m., 911 call after call had begun flooding into emergency dispatch at the Oak Creek police department, according to Brad Wentlandt, a police chief in neighboring Greenfield, Wisconsin, a spokesman on the case.

People look on at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, where a gunman killed six people at a service Sunday.

The showdown between the police officers and the gunman occurred some time thereafter, finally ending the bloodshed. Still, it took several more hours for authorities to thoroughly sweep the building and the surrounding area, checking for clues and signs of additional gunmen, as some witnesses had suspected.

Kanwardeep Singh Kaleka said temple members he'd talked to had never seen the gunman or had any idea who he was.

The violence is antithetical to the Sikh religion and its custom of, literally, opening its doors to people of all faiths.

"It's really unfortunate that someone took advantage of this, the love that we try to give out," he said. "It's disgusting, to say the least, that people would do this."

"Shock" was a word several temple members used to describe their feelings after the shots had stopped, with the grief widespread given that everyone there knew everyone else well. There was also rampant confusion, with little known about the names of the dead or the whereabouts of the injured.

Still, the tight-knit Sikh community took solace in the fact that they had one another to lean on for support, nourishment and love. Even so, they solicited help from the outside, too, to make sense of the terror and recover from it.

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"I want everybody out there, whoever is hearing this, we would really appreciate your prayers your positive support," Amardeep Kaleka said. "We're in a great time of need for that positive energy, so please send it."